- An award-winning writer/filmmaker, Douglas K. Dempsey is, with Karen Thorsen, Co-Director of the James Baldwin Project. Their first collaboration was THE FED, a behind-the-scenes exploration of America’s financial system; it won a Cine Golden Eagle. Their second joint effort was JAMES BALDWIN: THE PRICE OF THE TICKET, a feature-length biography which won awards all over the world and is now considered a classic. Most recently, he supervised the restored and re-mastered, WideScreen 2K HD version of the film - now the centerpiece of their Outreach & Engagement initiative, " James Baldwin Centennial: Identity, Then & Now "
- On his own, Dempsey wins awards as well. As a narrative story editor, his credits include both award-winning feature films (for Producer Steven Haft and Director John Avildsen) and IMAX productions – among them, LIVING PLANET, FLYERS (both produced for the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum) and SHACKLETON’S ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE (winner, Best Film Award, 2005, Big Screen Association).
- Dempsey has also worked extensively in museum media – often in collaboration with Dennis Earl Moore Productions and Christopher Chadbourne & Associates. Credits include the Mystic Aquarium’s DIVE THEATER, the Smithsonian Institution’s PRICE OF FREEDOM, and the GREAT PLATTE RIVER ROAD ARCHWAY MONUMENT in Nebraska. He was Content & Media Developer for the North Carolina Museum of History. His ONE SMALL CANDLE – a documentary film history of the Pilgrims and their Native neighbors, made in partnership with Karen Thorsen – has recently become a permanent installation at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, MA.
- In addition, Dempsey has been honored as a writer and editor. He was Writer / Editor of BURIED PRAYERS, a feature-length film about the buried treasure of Maidanek, a Nazi death camp for Polish Jews. A story of defiance and redemption, it was narrated by artist Laurie Anderson and won Best Documentary Feature at the Cinequest Film Festival. His documentary narration for KEEPERS OF EDEN, a film about the Huaorani tribe in Ecuador, was performed by Joanne Woodward. His scripts have been produced by CBS Mystery Theater, National Geographic and The Learning Channel.
- Other collaborations with Thorsen include two works-in-progress: PEACEJAM: CHANGE STARTS HERE, a series of web-based shorts and longer-form docs about teenage activists mentored by Nobel Laureates – and THOMAS PAINE: VOICE OF REVOLUTION, a feature-length documentary & multi-media museum exhibit. Most recently, Dempsey co-produced a Play-on-Film, with Karen Thorsen, of Michael Tucker's THE NICE MAN COMETH, in collaboration with Michael Tucker & Jill Eikenberry; it has been presented online since 2021, by various theater companies and streaming services.
- Douglas K. Dempsey -
Producer / Writer / Director
JAMES BALDWIN: THE PRICE OF THE TICKET
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